Meet Richie:
Always struggled to keep up with other people. Seemed my energy levels were forever low. Possibly linked to adrenal gland damage from chicken pox when I was 8 years old. Weekly headaches since the age of 10, always on one side. Resolved with DHEA which perhaps validates the weak adrenal theory.
Some more background:
Unable to walk very far due to knee weakness.
Symptoms:
In remission. Bowel completely healed .
Richie’s Story:
I am male, approaching 40. Doc wrote off my GI complaints as IBS for many years.
Showed first really bad symptoms September 2010.
Dx with pancolitis November 2011.
Been in continuous flare for six years. 6MP kept me stable and functional.
Azathioprine caused pancreatitis.
5-ASA meds caused a dreadful reaction.
Prednisolone pulls me out of a flare in a few days.
Blood test revealed my adrenal glands are compromised and producing insufficient cortisol. All other blood test results are normal except RDW, which is continuously elevated.
Read that women experience colitis mini-flares in sync with monthly cycle, particularly during first week of period. After studying menstruation hormone charts online, I realized that estriadol and progesterone are at their lowest during first week of period.
So as a guy, I wondered if I could somehow increase these two hormones in my body.
Seems DHEA converts into estriadol in the body.
Turns out DHEA capsules and progesterone cream are widely available online.
Now I was already taking 25mg/day of DHEA (capsule) since June 2016, to successfully stave off dreadful weekly headaches(think migraine pain levels). So I figure my estriadol levels must be increased by now.
Enter topical progesterone USP cream . I applied a quarter teaspoon of this cream twice a day , morning and night for the last month.
As an aside, I was trying Guarana tincture
1:3 to help with ongoing fatigue and poor concentration. 50 drops per day, on the days I really needed to concentrate(maybe 7 days in total during September)
My colitis is now in remission since the middle of September (about two weeks) and I have stopped 6MP.
How long this will last I do not know, but I am grateful for disappearance of symptoms.
The excessive progesterone dose causes muscle pain in my back and arms, so I have lowered the dose to one eighth teaspoon every other day.
Interestingly I had an extensive blood test last week. Red blood cell distribution width is elevated. Everything else in normal. My cortisol level is just below the lowest lab range.
Something tells me my adrenal system is compromised and progesterone and DHEA supplementation are propping things up to induce remission. Yet I cannot say with certainty what helped me into remission. It could have been pure coincidence.
Guarana is thought to help with autoimmune disorders too.
Hope this helps someone, I had almost given up.
DX pancolitis by colonoscopy Nov 2011 after 10+ years of being told it was IBS.
NSAID’s = bloody flareups
Imuran = Pancreatitis
stable on 6Mp , 50mg/day
colestyramine (questra generic) useless
started progesterone cream 01/16 (1/4 teaspoon two doses per day, am and pm)
also guarana tincture 1:3, 50 drops/day
now in spontaneous remission and stopped 6MP
Medication History
6MP kept me stable and functional.
Azathioprine caused pancreatitis.
5-ASA meds caused a dreadful reaction.
Prednisolone pulls me out of a flare in a few days.
written by Richie W
submitted in the colitis venting area
Always struggled to keep up with other people. Seemed my energy levels were forever low. Possibly linked to adrenal gland damage from chicken pox when I was 8 years old.
